Missing the Consequences
by yogurtpo3
Summary: What would happen if Seth had not participated in Kirsten’s intervention? Would it have taken more serious consequences to get the message across to her?
1. Chapter 1

Missing the Consequences

What would happen if Seth had not participated in Kirsten's intervention? Would it have taken more serious consequences to get the message across to her?

Sandy Cohen watched his wife with unease as she gulped down yet another shot of Vodka from the mini bar. Watching her staggering away into the crowd, he took a slight wonder as to when this had started…when had his dear caring, loving, and in control wife had allowed herself to be consumed with alcohol. Thinking that it may have been the time his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Bloom returned in his life, Sandy couldn't help but feel guilt creep over his heart…but moping was no going to solve the problem…and Kirsten's alcohol consumption was a real and true problem.

It wasn't that he hadn't tried, he had, he had found Kirsten a competent and friendly looking Rehab center…they had even staged an intervention…painful words had been exchanged. But Kirsten had refused to admit her problem, and simply refused any help. The doctor had been adamant that Kirsten be forced into Rehab against her will, but Sandy himself had given into his wife at that moment, and had told the Doctor that he will keep trying but would not admit his wife into Rehab until she was ready, which she obviously was not.

Glancing to the other side of the room, Sandy saw his two sons, Seth and Ryan staring sadly at their own mother as she stumbled through the crowd, earning gasps and further gossip starters for the Newport Crowd. Ryan hadn't spoken to Kirsten since the intervention two days ago, when Kirsten had sharply stated Ryan's position in the house. Heck, he had hardly spoken to Sandy…though Sandy had made sure that Ryan understood his true position as their son and Seth's brother right afterwards, the words had still stung. As for Seth, Sandy was not sure what his son was feeling exactly. After hearing of the intervention, Seth had simply refused to join in, and he didn't. As much as he was displeased at Seth's refusal to accept the problem in their family, Sandy could hardly blame him. Sandy himself had once thought he could get Kirsten's drinking under control…this wasn't their family, they weren't that family Seth had said, this wasn't his wife, but it was.

As he sighted Kirsten once again at the bar, about to take another drink, Sandy could not take it anymore. Walking up to her, he grabbed her hand with the glass and roughly pulled it away from her lips.

"I think that's quite enough, the boys are watching," he quietly stated to Kirsten, but the alcohol had already fogged her mind, and she fought back.

"Leave me alone!" she sharply growled to him, pulling her hand away from his grip.

"No, I cannot. Not for this family's sake! You're drunk Kirsten," retorted Sandy, grabbing her hand into his again, "you have a problem, now just stop and I will take you home," he continued, trying his best to keep his voice to a minimum volume.

"I'm NOT DRUNK!" yelled Kirsten, catching everyone's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Sandy could catch Ryan and Seth quickly diverting their eyes to the ground, wishing for a hole to bury themselves into.

"Come on Kirsten, let's go," Sandy said, ignoring her outburst and pulling her away to the car, "Seth, Ryan," he yelled to the boys as they obediently tailed behind.

"Let go, LET ME GO!" Kirsten cried suddenly, pulling herself away from him. "Go back to your girlfriend!" she slurred, tears falling down her cheeks. Sandy felt as if his cheeks had been physically slapped, and he hoped to God that it was only the alcohol talking…but he knew that it wasn't. Rebecca had had more of an impact on Kirsten and their marriage than he had imagined. When she returned into his life, Sandy had helped her simply as a friend, nothing else. Little did he know that he would feel attachments, he was over her, that was for sure, but it didn't stop the curiosity of what may have been. The kiss they shared, it confirmed his feelings for Kirsten, for he had felt nothing, but Kirsten did not know that. And then Carter had been, and their marriage seemed to just fall apart.

"Mom, mom, what are you doing? No, let Dad drive!" arose Seth's panicked voice, waking Sandy up from his thoughts to find Kirsten getting into the driver's seat of their BMW, his two sons now trying their best to unbuckle themselves from their seats to detour Kirsten from the driver's seat.

"Sandy!" yelled Ryan as the engine started up with a roar…Sandy silently cursed himself for leaving the keys in the car and leaped as fast as he could to the driver car door, but it was too late. With a loud screech, Kirsten had taken off leaving a flabbergasted Sandy in the dust watching as Seth struggled back into the car only just managing to slam the door shut before the BMW unsteadily hit the road.


	2. Chapter 2

Missing the Consequences – Chapter 2

_Thanks to everyone for your reviews! _

_I was asked a number of times whether Ryan got into the car, and I apologize for being unclear in my story…but to answer the question, yes he is, because Sandy was watching both his sons try and unbuckle themselves when Kirsten took off, but I especially emphasized on Seth's door closing last because…well…I dunno, Seth just seems to me like he would be the one with the slowest reaction…hahaha…_

"Mom, stop! Mom! RED LIGHT!"

Seth's screams filled the air as the BMW swerved unsteadily on the road. Ryan gripped the car door with all his might and sat tensely fingering the seatbelt around his body. This wasn't the first time he had been on a wide car ride with a drunken mother at the wheel. Dawn had a habit of drinking herself to crazy limits before attempting to drive them home. Once they had even hit a ditch, and young Ryan had broken a few ribs along with a major concussion forcing him into hospital for a month. Dawn had been charged for drink driving, but even that time hadn't stopped his mother from driving under intoxication yet again just a month later. Ryan knew at a time like this, the best you can do is sit tight, pull on the seatbelt and hold onto the side of the car as tightly as possible.

"MOM! Please, Mom, just stop by the side, the sidewalk is good, safe Mom, just stop please…Mom, you're scaring me!" Seth's hysterics continued, unbuckling his seatbelt to reach to Kirsten much to Ryan's horror.

"Seth, SIT!" he yelled, closing his eyes in anticipation for the crash, or maybe just to steady himself from the nausea building up from the car swerving side to side along with Kirsten's own shaking vision. Daring to let go of the car door, Ryan roughly pulled his adopted brother's shirt sharply until Seth was seated, eyes flaring wildly for guidance.

"SETH, put on your seatbelt!" was Ryan's command, and Seth dumbly followed. At last hearing the click, Ryan's hands went back to the door grip. The car drove on tensely for a few seconds of silence, the smoothness allowing a shut eyed Ryan to understand that they had hit the highway.

"Kirsten, maybe we should stop here," suggested Ryan in the calmest voice he could muster, ignoring the heavy panicked breathing was Seth.

"Yes Mom, listen to Ryan…just stop here, and we'll call Dad to pick us up and drive us home okay?" cried Seth, the fear evident in his voice.

Ryan hated the fact that Seth had to see his mother like this, Ryan knew all too well the pain of seeing a loved one under the influence of alcohol. Now to witness the Cohens falling apart like this hurt, it was as if watching his own family all over again, yet, he knew this was different. The Cohens, unlike his family, had hope. They could recover from this, and Ryan prayed with all his heart that this hope was different to the false hope he had convinced himself of year after year with his own family.

"No, I don't need your father…I don't need any help!" growled Kirsten, continuing to push the accelerator. Suddenly the car boomed with a high pitched form of Death Cab's new song, and Ryan knew that Seth's phone was going off. A few more seconds and Ryan opened half an eye to find Seth not responding to the new noise, only staring blindly at the steadily rising speedometer. Saying a quick prayer to God, whatever one or any that may listen, Ryan once again let go of the car and pulled Seth's phone from his pocket.

"Hello, Seth?" came the answer. It was Sandy, much to Ryan's relieve. Sandy would know what to do…Sandy HAD to know what to do.

"It's Ryan…you need to get her to stop," Ryan replied, his tone urgent, "How do we make her stop?"

"Are you guys okay, what's happening? Where are you now? Ryan? Where's Seth?"

"We're fine…for now, we're on the highway, Seth is fine, he's just...er…keeping an eye on things" was Ryan's reply. Keeping an eye on things was the best way Ryan could sum up what Seth was doing at the moment. The boy had now stopped staring at the speedometer and was now staring in wide eyed terror out the window.

"MOM! TRUCK!" Seth suddenly screamed, along with a "click" which made Ryan's blood run cold.

"SETH, SEATBELT!" Ryan screamed, before "Sandy, get her to stop, get her to STOP!"

For a good second, Ryan found himself in another world, white blinding lights, and only the sound of his own heart rapidly beating…then pain struck his entire body before everything went pitch black.


	3. Chapter 3

Missing the Consequences – Chapter 3

Thanks to all you reviewers! It's great encouragement to keep writing!

Sorry for the looong time to get this update up! What can I say…University kills!

"You've called emergency service 911, please state the nature of your emergency," the eerily pleasant voice of the emergency number operator sounded over Sandy's cell phone. After hearing the final screams before finding his line disconnected from Seth's cell, Sandy had wasted no time in dialing 911.

"My wife and two sons…I think they've been in a traffic accident on the highway," he now quickly reported. The sooner Kirsten, Seth and Ryan received help the better.

"May we know which turnoff they are closest to?"

"I don't know, I'm not with them, but I was on the phone to Ryan…I mean, to my son…you need to hurry, they may be seriously hurt! My other son…I…I don't think he had his seatbelt on," panicked Sandy into the phone, suddenly recalling Ryan's scream to Seth.

"We are sending an emergency team straight away…"

_It was Christmukkah, Seth's favorite holiday…and one that Ryan himself had been led to thoroughly enjoy. Despite the dramas that had ensured on every Christmukkah he had spent with the Cohens, the joy of sharing a special occasion with his beloved new family was enough to overcome everything that was pain and grief. This Christmukkah had been an even more eventful one than last, with Caleb's revelation about Lindsay threatening to ruin whatever the fun and joy the holidays were meant to offer, but they had somehow managed to fix things, not completely, but enough to enjoy the holidays. Now the guests had left, and the Cohens had settled together at the tree for some family time. Ryan watched contently as Kirsten took out the presents and began passing them around to their respective recipients. One for Sandy, who thanked his wife with a kiss that caused Seth to gag. One for Seth, who happily accepted the present until Kirsten decided that he was worthy of a tussle of his hair, which made him squirm and complain "Mom! Watch the Jew fro!" Lastly, she handed one over to Ryan, whom he politely accepted, and she rewarded him too with a tussle of his hair…though unlike Seth, Ryan never complained. Taking extra care to not rip the snowflakes wrapping that Kirsten had carefully chosen, Ryan slowly unraveled his gift, only to find himself holding in his hand a bottle of vodka. Looking up in surprise, he found that Sandy's and Seth's gift was the same._

"_Kirsten?" inquired Sandy of the obscure inappropriate gift. Before Ryan knew it, Kirsten had become intoxicated with alcohol and was now staggering toward him holding yet another bottle of vodka._

"_Don't you say a word, I let you into this house…" she slurred at him as his world shattered right before his eyes._

"Mr. Cohen? Mr. Cohen, can you hear me?" Ryan woke to a bright light shining into his pupils. Quickly he shut his eyes again, willing away the boring headache that seemed to have settled and the excruciating pain radiating up his right leg.

"Mr. Cohen? Can you tell me what your name is?" asked a man dressed in a white uniform.

"Ryan…Ryan At…wood" he answered in a daze.

"Mr. Atwood is it? Okay, stay with me boy, can you tell me what happened here?" the uniformed white persisted much to Ryan's annoyance. "What happened here?" What had happened? Suddenly it all flashed back to Ryan…the party…Sandy and Kirsten fighting…Kristen driving away with him and Seth…the swerving…the blinding lights of the truck…his shout for Seth to put his seatbelt on…Seth…Seth!

"Seth…Seth!" Ryan suddenly mumbled, fidgeting away from the paramedic to search for his brother.

"Hey hey, stay put okay, Ryan? Okay? We're going to try and lift you out of here okay?" soothed the paramedic as he strapped Ryan to a lift chair, "My name is John by the way," he flashed Ryan a smile.

"Seth…where's Seth?" asked Ryan again, this time allowing his body to relax.

"Your brother? Don't worry, they are lifting him out from the front," reassured John, tightening the last strap onto Ryan, before turning around to give someone behind him a thumbs up.

"No…you don't understand, Seth…" Ryan continued as he felt himself being lifted out of the car, when no one seemed to take notice of him, he allowed his head to crank up from his crib. There he was, there was Seth. Ryan watched anxiously as the rescuers buzzed around the car trying to put his brother from the mess.

"Hey mate," John said to him, stepping through to block his view of the car, "can you tell me where it hurts?"

"Let me see Seth! Where's Kirsten?" cried Ryan immediately, trying to release himself from the tightly bound straps to see past the paramedic.

"Kirsten? You mother? Don't worry kiddo, she'll be fine, she's already on her way to the hospital," reassured John, before squeezing Ryan's left leg. "Does this hurt?" he enquired.

Taking another glance at Seth, Ryan shook his head to acknowledge the paramedic, "my other leg hurts," he offered, "How's Seth? I mean, my brother…" he asked again.

Ryan knew the answer as soon as he saw John's uneasy glance over to the wreck where they were still working on getting Seth out.

"We're going to take good care of your brother Ryan, I promise," he answered Ryan, patting him softly on the shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Missing the Consequences – Chapter 4**

Yep, the last chapter was a tad small...because well, I wanted to break it off at that point. I'm kind of using the chapter breaks as a "scene/time break"...so the chapters may be shorter, but I'm still writing at the same pace. Instead of one long chapter, you'll just be getting shorter but more frequent chapters!

Sandy impatiently paced the floor of the hospital waiting hall...this was his worse nightmare, no, worse than his worst nightmare. His family was hurt, not one, or two, but all three of them were hurt. His sons, his wife...

Sandy couldn't help but feel guilty over Kirsten's drinking...if only he hadn't giving into always being the nice guy, if only he had not went so out of his way to help Rebecca…his family could be happily snuggled up on the couch watching another run of King Kong. But he also knew at the back of his mind, Kirsten drinking was what caused this, Kirsten was the very reason why his two sons were now here. Sandy didn't want to be angry at Kirsten, he didn't want to push the blame onto his wife, but the thought was there, tempting its way out.

The opening door of the emergency room swung open, breaking Sandy from his thoughts.

"Mr. Cohen? I'm Dr. Jennings,"

Sandy nodded, wasting no time in greeting the doctor that had emerged. "How are they?"

The doctor paused to look at his chart. Sandy hated the pause...it always seemed so devastating. The pause was the moment before you found out someone you love had left you, before you found out that someone would never walk again, that someone would never wake from a coma. Sandy prayed to God that this time, this pause did not mean the same things.

"Your wife Kirsten has been taken to the recovery ward. She suffered a concussion, so needs to remain under observation for the next two days. However, aside from a few bruises and scratches, she seems to have escaped the worst of the runt. She's not conscious yet, but you may see her if you wish," answered Dr. Jennings.

Sandy breathed a sigh of relieve. Kirsten was okay, Kirsten was okay.

"However, we have a slight problem...your wife, she blew a 0.2..." Jennings paused again, "You understand we must alert the authorities to this fact..."

Sandy nodded impatiently. This currently was the last of his problems. Jennings turned to walk away leaving Sandy panicked.

"Wait, what about my sons?"

Dr. Jennings turned back around to face Sandy. "We'll let you know as soon as we have any news," he answered before walking off again.

Sandy sucked in a deep breath and squatted down in the hallway. Waiting...


	5. Chapter 5

Missing the Consequences – Chapter 5

Sandy stood at the window of Ryan's recovery ward watching him as he peacefully slept. He looked down at Ryan's foot, bound in a large bandage, and absently wondered how long it would take for Ryan to play soccer again.

"Severe open fracture…" The doctor's words seem to rivet in Sandy's mind. "Broken ribs, slight concussion…could've been worse, it was lucky he was wearing a seatbelt."

Yes, lucky…extremely lucky…luckier than Seth anyways, Seth who was currently still in surgery with no news on his condition. God, Sandy didn't even know if his younger son was dead or alive right now. He only knew one thing, and he tried not to think about it too much…if Seth or Ryan were permanently hurt by any of this, he knew he wouldn't be able to forgive Kirsten…nor would he be able to forgive himself for putting off getting her the help she needed.

Ryan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.

"Sandy?" he managed to croak out, seeing the man with the thick dark mop…a dark mop that he had no doubt passed onto Seth…where was Seth?

"Seth…the…the accident…Kirsten…" Ryan mumbled, feeling as if his head had been placed into the middle of a fog.

"Ryan? You're awake! How are you feeling buddy?" asked Sandy running over to the side of the bed, a slight sense of relief washing over him as he watched Ryan slowly gain consciousness. His son talking to him now seemed just like a dream a few hours ago; when he had heard the crash over the phone line, and had the dreaded feeling that he may never see his family again.

"Sandy…" Ryan spoke, trying to push himself off the bed, but Sandy placed a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him down.

"Don't try to move too much, you've just been out of surgery," said Sandy, followed by a pause from both parties

"Head hurts," spoke up Ryan again, as Sandy nodded in co misery. "Foot can't move?"

"Its in a cast, you fractured it," was the answer.

A few more moments of Silence…

"Seth? Where's Seth?" asked Ryan, thinking of his brother again, this time searching Sandy's eyes for the truth.

"Seth…he's…" struggled Sandy, trying to find the correct words as to not panic his son. How do you tell someone that his brother has been in surgery for eight hours, and may or may not be alive. Much to Sandy's relieve however, Dr. Jennings walked into the room before he had to answer Ryan's question.

"Mr. Cohen? I see your son has woken up. How're you feeling Ryan?" asked the Doctor, to which Ryan muttered "Like Shit." Softly under his breath. Doctor Jennings managed a grim smile at Ryan, before turning back to Sandy.

"I've came about Seth…maybe we should step outside," he said to Sandy, taking a glance at Ryan.

"No!" Ryan protested immediately, wincing at the strain it placed on his ribs. "I need to know…deserve to know…about…about my brother."

Brother…he had said it again…Seth, his brother. Before he had always been reluctant to say it, to him, brother meant betrayal, meant being used, meant having to cover for someone's ass whether you wanted to or not…but Seth had taught him a whole new meaning to brother. Brothers trusted each other, Brothers worked for each other, Brothers covered each other's backs, and Seth, unlike Trey, who had just a few days ago once again left Ryan to cover his own back, was such a brother.

"Please…" Ryan begged, looking at Sandy straight in the eye to let him understand.

Sandy paused for a moment, contemplating, before finally nodding in approval.


End file.
